The threshing machines roar in the cornfields on the west side of the river Glomma in Åsnes. Rarely have they experienced better weather and grain crops. It is urgent to get the grain delivered. But to deliver to the mill on the other side of the river, they have to make long detours, because the wooden bridge at Flisa has been closed for over a week. The grain fields of Ole Andreas Trongaard are 800 meters from the mill on the other side of the bridge. – There must be someone who can soon tell whether this bridge is safe or not, he says. If he doesn’t get the answer by Monday, he breaks the ban and drives his grain over the closed bridge. TREE BRIDGE: The 20-year-old wooden bridge at Flisa was closed after the bridge collapse at Tretten last week. Photo: Anne Kari Løberg Costs the environment with the detour Usually Trongaard has between 800 meters and three kilometers to drive from his fields to Fiskå Mølle on Flisa. Now that the bridge is closed, he drives four miles round trip. He reckons there will be between 40 and 45 trips with grain to be driven. It will be 160 miles. – What is the environmental aspect of that, he asks, and points to the fact that it is driven with tractors that run on diesel and increases traffic on the bypass bridges. DIVERSION: The almost 100-year-old Arneberg bridge is now used as a detour. It can be cramped there for a trailer full of grain. Photo: Anne Kari Løberg / news Trongaard feels an arrogance and a lack of understanding from the road authorities for the situation the farmers are put in in the middle of the harvest. They know nothing about how long it will take before the Flisa bridge is checked and opened. They have learned that it is too long to build a replacement bridge over it. Trongaard wonders why the Norwegian Armed Forces cannot help with a temporary bridge in Åsnes when they have been able to do so in Fredrikstad. – Why couldn’t they discuss the possibility of traffic lights where everyone drives over, he asks. I think people refuse. Ole Andreas Trongaard is ready to drive over the bridge on Monday afternoon if he has not received a response from the road authorities. But even though he has many people behind him who think the same as him, he believes that he will drive alone. – I don’t think there will be many because they fear fines and the police, he says. Deputy leader of the farmers’ association in Åsnes, Gunnar Løfsgård, is in the same situation. He has to drive an extra 18 kilometers with grain every day because the bridge is closed. SEVERAL ARE PISSED: Deputy leader of the farmers’ association in Åsnes, Gunnar Løfsgård, has to drive an extra 18 km every day to deliver his grain as long as Flisa bridge is closed. Photo: Anne Kari Løberg He says ten days have passed without them receiving feedback on when the road authorities will look at the bridge or what measures may be necessary. The closed bridge divides agriculture in Åsnes in two. Most of the grain fields are on the other side of the river from the mill that will receive the grain. In a couple of weeks, the potatoes will be harvested and then the need will be even greater. Løfsgård says that he gets an extra 1,000 kilometers with a tractor if he has to make a detour to deliver his potatoes. However, he is not going to defy the ban as his colleague warns that he will do. – But that says something about the frustration that is now, says Gunnar Løfsgård. Don’t know when it will reopen Mayor of Åsnes says it is difficult for many that the bridge is closed, but that it is particularly difficult for the farmers. DEMANDING: The mayor believes that the situation is particularly demanding for the farmers in the area. Photo: Ann-Kristin Mo – It has major consequences. Especially for agriculture. Now that they are facing harvest and the mill is right by the bridge, it has a huge impact on their everyday life, says Mayor Kari Heggelund. Alfred Gullord is section manager for the transport department in Innlandet county municipality. He says that they understand that this is a difficult situation for the farmers. He does not know when the bridge will reopen. TAKES TIME: Gulord says that the investigations the National Road Administration is now doing take time. Photo: Arne Sørenes / news The Road Administration is working to inspect all 14 bridges that have been closed following the bridge collapse. – We hope they can re-register Flisa bru soon, but it must take the time it takes for safety reasons. Gullord hopes the farmers can accept that the bridge is closed, and emphasizes that it is illegal to drive over it.
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